Colour Schemes and dolls

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I searched about 20 pages of threads and didn't find this topic, but please redirect me if it exists!

So I've been avidly browsing BJD's all over the web for a few months now and I've noticed,
Lots of dolls have very specific colour schemes.
Sometimes this is on purpose--the doll owner buys eyes, a wig, clothes, and maybe even a faceup to match the colour set they have chosen for a doll.
Other times you can't get out of the scheme that the fullset had.
I've seen dolls where the eyes always match the clothes, or the clothes always match the wig, etc.

I've been carefully planning my first doll purchase for a while now and am starting to get stuck on all the colours. Choosing a sculpt might actually be the easy part for me.Things to think about:
&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours? &#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?
&#9733;Or does it not matter to you?

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
My dolls definitely have color schemes; my Pukifee Rosalie has a pink wig so I tend to stick with warm colors like pinks, yellows, and yellowy greens for her. My other Pukifee Ume has a grayish purple wig, so gets the cool colors like gray, blues, and teal. My Brownies are all over the place, but I do tend to stick with reds and blacks for the brunette one, Ovi; cool colors for the platinum blonde, Paloma; and warm colors for the pink-haired one, Evalina. I'm going to be ordering MW Juniors in the near future and also have palettes picked out for them -- brown as a base color, with pink and tan for the girl and greens and blues for the boy.

&#9733;Do you prefer dolls to have matching colours? Yes! I love it. But I'm a graphic designer by day, so I really dig specific color schemes. I've also been obsessively organizing things by color since I was a kid, so it ties into that, too.&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?Yes, but I'm easily swayed by pretty photography with desaturated colors. If a photo of a doll is too dark or with really garishly bright colors, I really find it off-putting.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?Not really; I tend to decide on and buy wigs and eyes before I receive a doll, as I usually have a very definite idea of what I want them to look like. The only default wig/eyes I've kept have been for Ovi, as the brunette hair went well with her default green eyes. Wasn't really delighted by it, just satisfied. ^_^

&#9733;Do you favourite colour sets for dolls?Favorite like on Flickr? I've certainly favorited dolls or groups of dolls with inspirational color schemes.

&#9733;Or does it not matter to you?
Oh, it matters! Or I probably wouldn't have typed out this mini-novel about my color choices!

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I think seeing as how my intention is to have a character-based doll, I'm much more hung up on the sculpt and kinds of clothes that fit the character. Colors are less important to me. Again, they have to fit the character.

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My dolls are chosen for ability to fit a certain type of anime character, & for versatility in portraying other characters. That said, I do have a certain personality/base character for each one, & have the wig/eyes/clothes that go w/that character (none of my dolls has only one set outfit LOL)
I do like color schemes when dressing each doll. Obviously if they are cosplaying that's a done deal - I know what they look like. It is when they are being their core character that I get to have fun! I have lots of dolly accoutrements (as in furniture, knick knacks, etc). I like to match the doll w/the setting - so Leanna, for instance, has a very girly boudoir that I can set up, & some lovely lingerie (not all here yet so no pics...) Pinks & corals Charlie, on the other hand, likes to come off as very metro sexual sophisticated, & has chrome & black stuff that goes w/the chic gray designer T-shirts & black slacks he likes...
I do like playing about w/the different eye/wig combos as well. Different colors can really change the whole attitude of a doll!

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
No, not like mentioned in the OP. I love color, so I can't rest on one color scheme for too long. If it looks nice, and it's a bright color, I'll probably consider it.

&#9733;Do you prefer dolls to have matching colors?I don't like my dolls to be too matched. I don't want my dolls to have the same hair color, eye color and the same color on their clothes. I can understand why that would look interesting, but I don't like to have everything matched like that. It just seems kind of boring for me.

&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
Sort of. If the dolls are portrayed in a very 'dark' manner (where they're mostly in black, and they look kind of

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
I was neither upset nor delighted. My DM Kid I was able to specify the eyes and wig, so she came with what I requested. My BBB came with default acrylics (which were a nice color, actually), but I had bought him a wig and eyes that were different because I wanted him to match my DM Kid. I actually like the color of his defaults better than his glass eyes... but his defaults are a totally different color than the glass eyes, and I would rather get something that matched my DM Kid better than to change to a totally different color.

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I will sometimes plan on a color scheme, but then I'll find an outfit or a wig or something that might not work in the color scheme but turns out to look fantastic on them. But with certain dolls, I definitely prefer certain colors on them. But I won't stick with it 100%.

&#9733;Do you prefer dolls to have matching colours?

If they are a couple or are often together with other dolls, I would like the colors to go together, but not match exactly. Again, I am not always going to stick with this and sometimes the outfits and wigs that they want to wear doesn't quite go according to plan...

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I guess I'm very flexible about these things... AND, as I said, sometimes I find out that other colors really work better than the ones I plan on. Overall, I think I'm very influenced by company photos and fullsets. The photos are what initially attract me to the dolls, after all. And I will often plan for similar colors and designs, but after that, things may change.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?

I think it's great when the random stuff turns out to look good on dolls!

&#9733;Do you favourite colour sets for dolls?
&#9733;Or does it not matter to you?

I do have some favorite colors for certain dolls. But I don't always stick with them. I guess I like a lot of variety.

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
Some of them do. It's really more of a 'their favorite color' kind of thing, which funnily enough, often coincides with their hair. :P Hiroko has pink hair; Takahiro has black, and Isamu has white, to name a few, and those are their favorite colors as well... Future dolls will also be the same, I have about 3 different wigs sitting around waiting for dolls to wear them (and their hair color will also be their favorite color. :P)
I do have some who don't follow that, for some of them it's their eyes. :P Like for Daiki, who has turquoise eyes, his favorite color is turquoise; and then Kazuo has green eyes, which is also his favorite color.

&#9733;Do you prefer dolls to have matching colours?From one doll to the another, not really. I do have a set of twins, but they are boy and girl so their favorite colors are actually green and pink. :P They do have matching styles of clothes though - a plaid gingham dress and shirt, and the same t-shirt in two colors with overalls. It generally is more of a matching style thing for me, and the colors take more of a backseat.

&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
For some items, yes. But usually I tend to go around looking for a specific item, in a specific color. Although, I did just buy two sets of jeans from Alice's Collections because they were on a banner on their site and I went 'Ooo! This is a pretty color!" :P So I guess that counts? XD

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
Not really, I've never gotten both wig and eyes at one time. For eyes - I have yet to receive a random pair of eyes that worked for what I wanted, and sell off anything that doesn't fit. I did get a wig once though, that was the exact wig that I wanted for one of my boys (I wanted to actually buy it, but it was sold out - score for me! )

&#9733;Do you favourite colour sets for dolls?
Not entirely, I just remember what a doll's 'favorite' color is, and buy them various stuff that is the same color.

So I guess on the whole, I don't really dress any one of my dolls in a really rigid color scheme. The only one that really follows that is one of my boys who wears a lot of white/cream/beige colors, and another who wears mostly black.
Then everyone else pretty much has only one or two items in their favorite color. But they wear that item the most often, so they are more often than not, wearing a shirt that matches their hair.

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Not exactly. They're not bound to wear any one particular hue by any means, so they can wear whatever color they like. However, I do consider both of them to have sort of "symbolic" colors, colors that I think best represent their basic personality at temperament. For Agatha, that's brown, shades of green, and brass. For Nanoha, it's white, pink, and shades of blue. If I were to pick an outfit for each to be their only outfit, odds are high that in that case they'd be in their representative hues.

&#9733;Do you prefer dolls to have matching colours?Meh, maybe for a photoshoot or two it'd be cute, but honestly, they're such different personalities that the idea of having them wear the same or similar colors on a regular basis is just weird. XD

Actually, no, I don't think so. Which is kind of odd, seeing how much I care about color in my artwork etc. I'm much more sensitive to posing and lighting.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?

I actually haven't gotten random eye/wigs, technically speaking. I guess at a stretch you could count the stuff Agatha's previous owner packaged her with--in that case, one of the three wigs became her default, but neither of the pairs of eyes did it for me. Nanoha, while also second-hand, was a full set with all her default stuff from Volks, so there was absolutely nothing random about her eyes and wig. Didn't stop me from being unsatisfied with her default eyes though; her default eyes from her fullset are incredibly dark, and thus were frustrating beyond belief to photograph without them turning into soul-sucking black holes. Changed those suckers ASAP!

I think for me color is more about personality and mood than anything else. For instance, now that Agatha and Nanoha both have eyes that I'm happy with, I think it would be kind of out of character and would suggest a different personality were I to change them to another color. Wigs I'm a bit more flexible with, but for each there's a color I sort of consider their "natural" color, while all others would be considered sort of costume, like a human wearing a wig or dying their hair.

Regarding the "symbolic" color thing earlier, I'll admit when putting them into something that's extremely different from their representative colors can be a little weird, but not always bad. I would have guessed originally that black would be too different for Nanoha, but when I put her in a little black and burgundy dress, she totally rocked it! I'm looking forward to making her stuff in purple and/or green, too. As for Agatha, at least with her last faceup she looked good in practically any warm tone, including red and pink, but cool tones like blue were kind of "off". I'm not sure how much of that was my mental image of her personality and how much was her faceup though, so we'll see if the pattern holds true when I finally do her new one.

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It's good to hear other people have similar feelings as I.
One of my favourite dolls is the Dikadoll Rena, but I would have never looked at her twice from factory photos. When I saw her on deviantart I fell in love with the adorable pinks and whites, and the bold colours in her faceup and eyes.
Also, I've been having problems matching colours for dolls. Especially my friends' dolls. Their clothes, hair, and eyes generally all fall into the same colour schemes. When I go fabric shopping I want to get them into new styles and colors, but the ones they have fit SO WELL. (For example the LE Dollzone Asura. I ended up taking the black from the fullset outfit and making a black wig, and the red from the fullset wig and making clothes. It just feels weird to put him in anything else.)

I want a doll with a cutsie color scheme, and I have a list of sculpts I'm considering, I already have the purple eyes, but I have absolutely no clue what color wig to choose! Everyone I ask says Black, Grey, or White, but I'm not really feeling those. I either want a fun color, or maybe a brown or a blonde. I really wish Orange or green could go with purple, because I have wigs for both. Why is purple so hard to match?

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
Yes they do For example, the doll in my avatar has this scheme of white/gray/brown/black with red accents, my YoSD Chika has a green/brown/grey scheme, and so on.

&#9733;Do you prefer dolls to have matching colours?
I don't match some dolls with others, no.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
Yes, my B&G Loretta is gorgeous with some random eyes I received as a gift that I wouldn't have bought for her on my own. She began with pinkish-grey hair and pinkish eyes that gave her a hard look, now she's a more natural redhead with blue eyes... and she's likely to stay that way

&#9733;Do you favourite colour sets for dolls?
Not really... although I gravitate towards black a lot.

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
- Some of them do, some of them don't.

&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?
- I wouldn't say I prefer it. Out of all of my dolls I can only think of three who do the matching colors things: Ryuuki (blue eyes, when I make more stuff for him it'll be blue), Akira (wine/purple eyes, would also prefer purple clothes), and Kazuya (white skin, grey/silver wig, purple eyes, wears mostly white or purple). Considering I have 9 other dolls and another one the way who don't have matching colors I guess it's not a preference for me :p

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
- Nope, I've never gotten a random combo of wigs and eyes. The only doll I have ever bought that came with a wig AND eyes was an LE fullset and came with exactly the wig and eyes in the sales pictures, so I can't say I was surprised.

&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls?
- Sort of...helps keep me from buying the same things over and over. Izayoi wears lots of pink. Masuyo's color is red. Akira and Kazuya are purple. Siofra is mostly white. But there are also exceptions, e.g. I have this shiny purple shirt that both Masuyo and Ryuuki look good in but that isn't such a great match on Akira, who supposedly has a purple color scheme.

&#9733;Or does it not matter to you?
-It doesn't matter a lot, i.e. I'm not going to skip buying something I think would look awesome on a doll just because it's not his/her color. But if I can find something for a doll that is perfect AND fits their color scheme I'll be more likely to get it and to keep it as something just for that doll to wear...if it's a doll with a color scheme to begin with.

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
Oh, yes. Most of my dolls make up a Medieval fantasy Court, and color and fabric choices in one's clothes were a very important way of describing wealth and social status in the Middle Ages. You just glance at a person and you can tell what rank they probably are and how wealthy they are.

I also dress them according to personality and complexion in colors that "make sense" for their character.

Kevya, (Iplehouse Barron) for instance, is a servant, so he almost never wears bright colors, as those would be expensive. He is, however, a personal servant to the Prince, so his clothes are of fine sturdy quality and very good workmanship, and he gets to wear a little blue, an expensive color, which would have been bought for him by his employer so that he presents a good image. It is still a blue woven jerkin, handmade in his people's fashion, but with nice colors, so it is appropriate to his station while still showing that he works for someone wealthy. (Also, he has blue eyes and looks great in blue and earth tones.)

Prince Lir (Soom Lupin) and Princess Elinore (Migidoll Jina), being royalty, are the only dolls I have who will be seen wearing deep purple. It was very difficult to dye cloth to that shade and very expensive, so as royalty they're able to afford it. They are also some of the only dolls who will be seen wearing deep-plush velvet, as that's also a very expensive thing.
They also wear a lot of green because it is the color of their kingdom's banner, and as sovereigns they represent the kingdom. (Luckily, it also looks very good on them both.)

Lady Fiachra, (Nobility/Souldoll hybrid,) wears some colors that are extremely loud and kind of clash. She's from a nation heavily inspired by ancient Celtic cultures, and she shows her noble rank by wearing the brightest of colors- checked reds and golds, bright blues, and so on. The Celts were in love with bright colors and anything showy. Fiachra herself is not a wallflowery sort of person and bold color statements fit her well.

Tiarnach (Soom Chrom on eventual Granado body) is a fae Prince of a dangerous temperament, so he wears dark rich colors, in fabrics that have been distressed or antiqued to give the impression he is very, very old in spite of his young face. Like he belongs to a former era.

&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?I dress all my dolls within their rank and station, but also according to their personality and their complexion, in colors that "make sense" for their character. So, no, I don't have dolls with green hair, green eyes and green clothes. For instance: Donovan, my redheaded, seablue-eyed Akando, wears nothing that is not either green or blue, and never dark. He just looks great in those colors and it describes a peaceful, thoughtful personality.

&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
Nah, never really notice 'em. I try to imagine how the doll would look blank, or look at blank pictures to imagine whether the doll fits a character of mine.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
Not really. I usually end up selling them off.

&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls?
Yeah. Each one, as described above, has certain colors they look good in, so they each end up with their own color palette I choose from when making their clothes.

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Oh, I love this thread!! I'm very picky and concerned about colors when it comes to dollies, so it's great to see this thread!! >w<

&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
Yes, I think they do. But more related to eyes-wig combo than clothing combo. They have a color scheme related to the color of their eyes, wig and make up and I like for each doll to have a different color scheme. If not, they would all look the same.

&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?
Matching colors to that scheme, you mean? If so, yes. For example, I NEVER mix dark eyes + dark wigs or light eyes + light wigs.

&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
Mmm... I think they do. When I see a doll with dark hair in promo pics, I tend to image it with dark hair as well, but it would normally change after I have the doll and play with it (I tend to try all wigs on each doll I get when it comes home, so most of the time what I thought would be a redhaired guy ends up being blonde or something like that UXD). That's the reason why I tend not to look at pics too much. I normally see the doll I like, stare at it to figure out if I really like it/if we'll work together and then I don't go back to the pics for as long as I can.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
Mmm... I don't remember any situation like this, but I've been in the hobby for long so maybe it's just my bad memory. But if I was ever delighted, it could have been probably from getting a combo I hadn't thought of that looked pretty good on the doll.

&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?
I don't think I can apply this question to dolls that aren't mine (this or I don't understand the question, cause everyone seems to be answering it personally and not applied to other dolls), but with mine... I don't focus on it. Aside of the normal 'this color suits you better than this other' (and when this happen, I don't normally go back to the non-suiting color for that doll), I don't choose clothes for my doll according to their color schemes. This would limit the clothing I can get for them a lot (and it's boring when a doll only dresses in X color...), which is already small since they all have weird measurements, so I don't care about their color scheme when I'm shopping for clothes. I apply color schemes as 'color combos' for wigs and eyes (and make ups) alone, like I said above.

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?Well Kiyoharu has for his visual-kei look. Pruple eye make up,a purple/pink wig and now I just need matching eyes. Takanori's tattoos match his hair color.&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?Depends: if the character has a certain style;lolita,mori-girl or visual-kei I think it looks nicer when there's some thought put into the colors. But for my characters normal everyday style it doesn't matter that much
&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?Nope.&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?Yes,the wig I got with Takanori wasn't his style at all. Thank god the eyes matched well with what I had in mind for him.
&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?
Yes I guess I do. Takanori is an exception since his blue hair doesn't always go well with the dark-ish clothes he wears. I haven't decided on Yuppa's colors yet but I think she will wear clothes with soft colors since her style is mori-girl/classic lolita.

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All my dolls have individual colour schemes that influence how I do their faceups, what colour wig/eyes/clothes to choose, and even how to take pictures of them. For instance, Felix's colour scheme is black, white and yellow, Teal's is black, blue and orange, Clairvius' is green and white, and Selkie's is purple, grey and white, etc, etc. I'm a big fan of colour schemes and during my teenage years had one myself- it was black, white and red. Makes me feel secure, I suppose!

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?I wouldn't say they do. I like certain colors that go with a skin tone, but I don't force a doll to stick to a certain color. It's not something I would do for myself, so I wouldn't do that for them.&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?Well, I mean, her outfit shouldn't have colors that don't match, and nothing too obnoxiously out of whack when it comes to the wig, but otherwise, they kind of just wear whatever.&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?To an extent. I try not to make my dolls extremely similar to other ones, like my Iplehouse Tania. A lot of people have their Tanias as brunettes, so I avoid brown wigs for her. It sounds snobbish, but I really want her to be an individual.&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?When I got my red Monstrodesign wig in the mail, I was incredibly happy at how well it went with purple eyes. It reminded me of Alanna, from Tamora Pierce's Lioness series.&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?I love a few dolls that have certain trademark combinations, like The Happiest Princess' Ibi (who was, sadly, sold recently) had a signature teal wig and blue eyes look that was gorgeous.
I can see how clothes are such a problem for you. I have a lot of trouble finding clothes for my girls, too. All I can say is, the more you look the more you find!​

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Mmmmmm, sort of. The colour schemes of their hair/eye colour usually has to do more with aesthetics than anything, since some wigs/eyes just don't look good with some sculpts. As for clothes, that really has more to do with the dolls personality than anything, for me. One doll of mine likes pink, so she'll probably end up with a lot of pink clothes. Another is more of a goth type and will probably wear mostly black. My more versatile sculpts will probably have more than one wig that they can coordinate with more loud clothing.

There's nothing wrong with having colour schemes, of course, some of them can be really pretty, it's personally just not my style. Only like, two or three of my dolls so far will probably have a set colour scheme, but that's it.

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&#9733;Do your dolls have colour schemes?
They have a general color scheme that I like to stick to for all of them, but not individually.

&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?Matching? Eh. Not really.

&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
Yes, and no. A color scheme I'm drawn to shows me the potential more, especially when it comes to faceups, but I've never decided to buy solely based on that reason.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
No.

&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?
I like purple.

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Pete does (white through pink to red), and was planned to from the start. I may make occasional strays from his overall scheme, and of course he'll have accent colours from time to time in clothing and accessories, but he's got a white wig, red eyes, and when I do his faceup it will be in pinks. (also, right now all his clothes are pink, and I've got some white fabric-- and more pink fabric).

&#9733;Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?
I do like colour schemes-- one of my current dolls has one in place, as do the dolls I'm saving/planning for (one in reds and browns, the other three in blues/greys and black and white), but I'm not super fussed about it-- my other two dolls don't have colour schemes, or need them.

Nope. I like seeing them sometimes, but that's not where my decisions come from.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
I was delighted with Vince's eyes when he came, because I'd wanted blue eyes for him (with wigs he is far more flexible-- he has his usual, but he wears others). I bought Pete's eyes ahead of time because he needed them to be red specifically-- and then I was quite amused when he showed up with blue eyes... but BILLY had red ones. Well, Billy still has the red eyes that clash with his gingery wig... but I put in Pete's pre-bought eyes and was happy to have the spare blue ones for my floating head.

&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?

No-- outside of my own, where applicable, I don't. I do like to see experiments in 'monochrome' dolls, though, because I think it's interesting. I like seeing interesting things done in colours that I like, but when I'm looking at other people's dolls, I don't find myself hoping for specific colour schemes (unless I'm specifically searching out, say, wigs by colour)

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Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?
I tend to think what the character would want more. I only have one doll that will waer all one color.

&#9733;Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
No, I like them to be personal, I don't pay too much attention to default pictures.

&#9733;Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
No the dolls always look nice when they come, but I have already planned out their looks so often the things I recieve get changed anyway.

&#9733;Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls in general (not just yours)?
&#9733;Or does it not matter to you?
It doesn't matter. They all have favourite colors but they don't always just wear that.